Ugh stupid work... Retirees, what do you do all day?

[skyking]

My life wouldn’t really change much if I retired tomorrow. I’d probably keep doing what I do at work but without meetings and spending a lot more of my own money. I get paid to play with toys essentially and make them fly, drive, swim etc on their own depending on the application. Get a better more interesting job if work makes you hate your life. I’ve refused to go into any sort of boring management role or menial nonsense like business ownership because I’ve watched it make a lot of people miserable. Perfectly happy to build cool toys and software in the corner with someone else’s money and expensive parts and have turned down a lot more money to keep doing so in a nice work environment.

Don’t wait until you retire to get some hobbies or get in shape or live how you want … easier said than done I know.

I hear that!
I had gotten down to a really low weight for me back in '17, and then two surgeries and a heap of other bad shit happened in 2019~2021, and I gained most of it back.
Now I am back on a doctor supervised diet and will get back to that weight by the end of summer, if it goes how it went last time.
The new home is 1.3 miles away from the Olympic Discovery Trail. Biking is my go-to for cardio and enjoyment. I'll be able to cruise down there and get a daily workout when the snow is off the ground.
https://olympicdiscoverytrail.org/

 

[MtnMan]

I retired at 55, 21 years ago.

Loving it...

I do a number of things, on MY schedule. Don't want to... I don't. The main thing is I'm not answering to anyone about anything, aside from my wife, and she is easy to live with.

 

[BoomerD]

I hear that!
I had gotten down to a really low weight for me back in '17, and then two surgeries and a heap of other bad shit happened in 2019~2021, and I gained most of it back.
Now I am back on a doctor supervised diet and will get back to that weight by the end of summer, if it goes how it went last time.
The new home is 1.3 miles away from the Olympic Discovery Trail. Biking is my go-to for cardio and enjoyment. I'll be able to cruise down there and get a daily workout when the snow is off the ground.
https://olympicdiscoverytrail.org/

Nice. I wish my FUBAR'd knee and back would let me ride a bike. Living here, a bike would be ideal transportation around town.

 

[cavemanmoron]

I retired several years ago. I suggest you put aside $$$$$ into a Roth IRA or 401K

My retirement is not increasing nearly as much as the cost of living is. ugh.

I do Not miss my job, yes sometimes I am bored.
I am grateful for today!!

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

I can't even think about the potentially permanently crippling results of falling off a bike now.

 

[brianmanahan]

not retired yet but hopefully by 45, or 50 at the latest

the stress and 60 hour weeks from my job are terrible for my health, and life in general

 

[Tweak155]

not retired yet but hopefully by 45, or 50 at the latest

the stress and 60 hour weeks from my job are terrible for my health, and life in general

You should do something about that now rather than wait for retirement... what is the point in retiring early if your health is ruined?

 

[dank69]

WTF? Golf during the day. Hookers and blow at night.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Yeah I would at least reduce hours to 40. It's ok to do OT here and there but if it becomes a regular thing start refusing. They need to hire more people if the workload is that bad.

They tried to pull the same crap at my workplace years back by not replacing someone that left and we were all putting in OT to pickup the extra shifts. After a while we put our foot down and stopped taking OT. That meant some days there was only 1 person working with no one available if it gets too busy. You need to work at a regular pace and regular hours and let shit hit the fan to get their attention sometimes. Thousands of users out of service during an outage while you're scrambling to keep the ship from sinking because there's no staff available to help will eventually get corporate's attention. Ticket and document everything.

 

[brianmanahan]

You should do something about that now rather than wait for retirement... what is the point in retiring early if your health is ruined?

i've thought about switching, especially now that software dev salaries have grown so much

and a full remote job would be absolutely perfect for me

but most dev interviews nowadays require answering leetcode questions, which takes a few hundred hours of study to get good at

i haven't had that kind of time in forever... maybe if i start coasting at my main job i could pull it off

 

[NutBucket]

I retired at 55, 21 years ago.

Loving it...

I do a number of things, on MY schedule. Don't want to... I don't. The main thing is I'm not answering to anyone about anything, aside from my wife, and she is easy to live with.

Sounds a lot like my dad. He retired at 60...26 years ago. He spends his time working in yard and doing little projects around the house. He walks a lot. He generally just seems relaxed. He was government auditor; as he put it boring job but it paid the bills.

A friend of mine retired a few years ago at about the same age. His wife also retired early and they're always out hiking, camping, etc. He liked working but also wanted to make sure he had time to enjoy retirement.

Counterpoint another guy retired in December (somewhat begrudgingly). He called me last week to chat and see how things are at the office. It was easy to tell he really misses coming to work. He is definitely one of the folks where you wonder what he'll be doing now that he's not working.

So yes, you definitely need to have things to do even if they seem mundane to others. Whatever it is that you enjoy doing.

 

[nakedfrog]

I hear that!
I had gotten down to a really low weight for me back in '17, and then two surgeries and a heap of other bad shit happened in 2019~2021, and I gained most of it back.
Now I am back on a doctor supervised diet and will get back to that weight by the end of summer, if it goes how it went last time.
The new home is 1.3 miles away from the Olympic Discovery Trail. Biking is my go-to for cardio and enjoyment. I'll be able to cruise down there and get a daily workout when the snow is off the ground.
https://olympicdiscoverytrail.org/

I drove along that stretch of 101 a few months ago, that bit along Lake Crescent was particularly spectacular.

 

[skyking]

I hope to get in good enough shape to at least one way my way out there in a day.
EDIT: looks like a 42 mile ride to get to the lake shore. That's a great goal, if I keep all the parts attached and functioning It is reachable. One way, with car ride back

 

[BarkingGhostar]

As an early Generation X child, I doubt I'll ever get to retire, professionally speaking. I probably will retire biologically before I can stop working.

 

[TXHokie]

I have about 6 more years to go when my last kid graduate from college when I can really feel financially secure enough to retire. In the meantime still slugging away keeping up with my health and spirit. I don't hate my job (well most days), but given the choice I wouldn't choose work over no work. I have a long bucket list of to-dos in retirement so I don't see a problem with nothing to retire to. So many things to do, so little time. I try to do some of it now but don't have the time to do as much of it as I want or get good at it.
My childhood buddy just retired early. He got married and had kids and saved in his 20s while I was out late clubbing and traveling racking up debt until my late 20s. "Play now pay later" and later is here. No regrets though.

 

[skyking]

I didn't rack up debt in those years, but I spent a shit ton of cabbage on avgas. No RAgrets though.

 

[Exterous]

Counterpoint another guy retired in December (somewhat begrudgingly). He called me last week to chat and see how things are at the office. It was easy to tell he really misses coming to work. He is definitely one of the folks where you wonder what he'll be doing now that he's not working.

So yes, you definitely need to have things to do even if they seem mundane to others. Whatever it is that you enjoy doing.

Man, I don't define my purpose through my 9-5, how incredibly unhealthy that is.

So I never thought this would be a concern for me but I am starting to think it might be. Don't get me wrong I can't wait to retire but I'm starting to adjust to certain things at work that might make this more challenging than would have thought even 4 years ago. My team and I work with educational institutions and handle large, sticky problems affecting large numbers of people. I've grown it to where I'm given a large amount of latitude, freedom and, usually, funding to solve problems. It can be infuriating, mind boggling, head banging against the wall frustrating but I can and am allowed to fix most things. I've become accustomed to that being able to affect change at scale which typically also leaves a legacy (I can continue to see the benefits of my work years after its been completed). If that becomes a void in retirement its not an easy one to fill.

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

So I never thought this would be a concern for me but I am starting to think it might be. Don't get me wrong I can't wait to retire but I'm starting to adjust to certain things at work that might make this more challenging than would have thought even 4 years ago. My team and I work with educational institutions and handle large, sticky problems affecting large numbers of people. I've grown it to where I'm given a large amount of latitude, freedom and, usually, funding to solve problems. It can be infuriating, mind boggling, head banging against the wall frustrating but I can and am allowed to fix most things. I've become accustomed to that being able to affect change at scale which typically also leaves a legacy (I can continue to see the benefits of my work years after its been completed). If that becomes a void in retirement its not an easy one to fill.

Well, if you want to talk about leaving a legacy, start planting trees. Those'll be there long after you're worm food. I went with sequoias

 

[Tweak155]

i've thought about switching, especially now that software dev salaries have grown so much

and a full remote job would be absolutely perfect for me

but most dev interviews nowadays require answering leetcode questions, which takes a few hundred hours of study to get good at

i haven't had that kind of time in forever... maybe if i start coasting at my main job i could pull it off

This is precisely what I do, so I must be on to something.

And yeah, even as a very skilled software dev, if I wanted to get into another language while joining another company, I'd likely have to take a massive pay hit - at least initially. I imagine it would be even worse not coming from a development career ... however if you're confident enough in your personal abilities to learn quick, you could try to b.s. your way into something.

All you'd be risking is time, but the reward sounds like it could be worth it in your case.

 

[Geekbabe]

As a metastatic lung cancer patient, I hope to recover enough to hopefully go back to work, if not I hope to be an at home volunteer to assist various groups advocating for cancer patients on social media….using my voice & platform for good is the least I can do.